Saturday, May 30, 2015

Golly! I can't believe what happened! I had ordered two batting rolls and two cases of packaged batting from Hobbs mid month and was wondering what was holding up the delivery. I need the batting ...like yesterday!! The invoice came... they took their money...no batting. I used the tracking number to see where the batting was held up and was shocked to see it had been delivered on the 19th...to FLORIDA!! Oh no! Now, I am unable to do at least two of my customer quilts unless I drive to a store that carries Hobbs and pay retail for batting. Oh well, when life gives you lemons...
Quilt something!

The vintage block quilt is ready for the hand sewing.

Pantograph: Fork in the road.

Label and binding on, all ready to go.

Tim finished painting the screen door, and now, we can have the door open and not let in every bug in the county!Tim also had a good day in the yard. He is making a walkway behind the perennial garden to make it easier to get to the plants in the back of the area

Then, he sprayed the non toxic deer repellant on all his tender plants. Hosta is like a salad bar to a hungry deer!

We also have to have the gas tank hidden from the road, so Tim put up this trellis. In a year or two, the vine will completely cover the trellis with foliage and purple flowers.

The hosta looks great along the rock wall, too.

Day is done, and its time to kick back and relax. The mountains are beautiful and I feel like I am in Heaven!

Friday, May 29, 2015

This post has loads of pictures, but it is worth a look. I finished the Halloween quilt for my customer and it is so cute, I can hardly control my glee. Just look at these blocks!! Too cute, and a blast to quilt.

The quilt is called Sew Spooky

Bats and candy corn in the borders

ha ha! Ghoul School!

I added a face to the pumpkin

I quilted ghosts into some of the backgrounds

This block gets some spider embellishments, so I added a web!

Cute just like this, but wait...

there's a surprise under the quilt

spider webs quilted into the sashing

The back looks cool, too!

After finishing the Halloween quilt, I went to work on the vintage block quilt that I did all the un-sewing on a couple of nights ago. I added the sashing that was missing and then added an inner border of the sashing dot fabric and an outer border of 40s funky fruit fabric. I like how it looks! The backing will be a turquoise fabric with tiny red berries on it. Quilting it will have to wait, but it's on the hanger and ready for a spare hour for quilting fun.

Ta da! The quilt top is finished!

I just love how the funky fifties fabrics look with the dots and cherries. The border was perfect for this. I'm glad I bought it all those years ago without knowing how the heck I was going to use it.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

My friend/customer, Kay, finished the embellishment of her 'Toast to Toulouse' quilt, and it is truly stunning! The beadwork and crystals add just the right amount of bling. She has sent her entry off to Houston, so keep your fingers crossed that it gets accepted.

I did the stitch in the ditch on the customer Halloween quilt today in between trips to town with my newspaper ad copy and sample logo. The ad will start next week here in the North Georgia News.

Land of friendly people...like me!

It comes once a week to around 10,000 homes as well as restaurants and hotels. Surely, someone out there wants some quilting done! We'll see.

We stopped on the way home and bought enough plants to finish the perennial garden along the side of the woods. Tim has done a great job preparing the area and putting in all those plants over the last month or so. In a year or two it will be full with blooms and pretty foliage. There sure were a lot of rocks in there!! You can see where Tim has made a border with the smaller ones and reserved the bigger ones (up by the trees) for the future fire pit area in the back yard.

Everything may look small from the deck, but it will all grow and fill the space with a myriad of colors and heights of foliage.

The other end has some larger spring flowering shrubs and Mr. Fox garden sculpture. Tim dug out all those rocks by hand!! What a guy.

The two plants on the far left are zucchini and yellow squash.Trust me, you only need one of each!

After supper, I set to the task of picking out the grand error I did yesterday with the vintage block quilt. I really like how the quilt is going to look, so it is worth a couple of hours of picking while the TV drones on in the background.

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Yippee!! I finally picked out the last seam. I have to add new sashings and re-sew the setting triangles and corner.

Here are the setting triangles and corner piece. Isn't this cute fabric?

Tomorrow after work, I go to Blue Ridge for my favorite guild up here--the Pieceful Mountain Quilters. Its a small group, kind of disorganized and loose, but oh so friendly! I almost wish I lived closer...almost. The second lone star restoration and finishing will be shown before the lucky customer gets it back. I hope she likes it! But then, who wouldn't?

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

My Memorial day sewing started with looking through the drawers of vintage blocks I have acquired from all kinds of people and places over the years. The ones I chose to play with are the most varied and really not too pretty. All I remember is that the person who gifted them to me said she would never use them because they are so ugly. I do love a challenge!
After starching, pressing and squaring up, the blocks were ready for experimenting with. Unfortunately, the piecer didn't know she was supposed to leave a seam allowance all around the edges, so all the outer points are cut off! I think I will call this quilt It's Pointless.

Arranging the blocks, I finally decided to go with an on point layout.

Then I thought they needed sashing. After trying many fabrics, I decided on this lively polka dot.

I started sewing the rows after picking a cherries print for the setting triangles. So far, so good...

As the day wore on, I think I must have gotten goofy. Now, there is a load of picking and re-sewing in my future. A huge OOPS!!! Seven sashings are missing! Drat! See, it even happens to quilters who are supposed to know what they are doing.To ease the pain, Molly and I had a walkie. Can't help but feel better after some time on the mountain.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

As it is Memorial Day weekend, I have been thinking about how fortunate our family has been. My Dad and his brothers all returned from World War II, my eldest brother came home from Viet Nam, and my daughter, Amy made it through two tours in Iraq. My heart aches for the mothers, daughters and sisters whose service members didn't come home to them alive. People use this weekend as a time to relax and have a cookout or watch a car race on the tube. We cook out,too, but we also take time to remember and honor those men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives so we may enjoy the freedoms we take for granted. Take a moment to reflect on how wonderful your life is, and remember who made it possible.
On the lighter side, Mr Wazoo and I spent another day together in the studio doing some quilting and sewing. He quilted this Kaffe Fassett quilt, and I quilted a 2-3-2-6 I made at the sew-in on Thursday. All I need to do is the hand sewing.

Simple, but stunning. You can't go wrong with Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

pantograph: Alfresco

the back

My charity quilt for a man in need

pantograph: Quirky

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Nice plaid backThere was a bit of time for fun, too, so I played with the blocks from yesterday and sewed them into this little wall hanging-to-be. I haven't decided on a border yet, but have narrowed it down to these dark red-purple ones. Ombre or no...can't decide. I will be adding some geometric applique, too, just to carry the theme out from the center. It is very much a work in progress.

After a quick drive to Home Depot (is any day complete without this trip?...) for a screen door for the house, we marveled at the change in the scenery in just a month's time! The drive to our house is so beautiful in every season, I can't help taking pictures of it!

We call this the haunted house. It dates to 1887 according to county records.

The curve where the horses graze. In the winter, we can see our house from here!

The view from the top of our mountain toward Brasstown Bald

The view from our front porch is partially obstructed by the leafy canopy.

Ah yes, the cook out...Tim has the baby backs on the grill and it is time to get the side dishes started. I hope you have a great day and a memorable Memorial Day.